ChatGPT: speed and quality... how extraordinary!
It is heatedly discussed, but user opinions are predominantly positive. Dr Aymen Meddeb reports on his own experience with ChatGPT.
The hot debate: Artificial intelligence in medicine
The ChatGPT AI is controversially discussed, but my personal experiences are mostly positive. The language model 3.5 from 2023 can achieve very impressive results. It is trained on enormous data sets and on texts. The model has no knowledge of its own, but relies on pure statistics. So I give the programme a word and it calculates the probability of what the next word will be. At the moment, you can't say that this comes close to human intelligence in any way. Nevertheless, there are already very many possible applications, including for my medical work.
ChatGPT: starting with the search
It starts with simple research. Instead of googling something, I can use ChatGPT to find out about any medical condition. This applies to all disciplines - so many colleagues already use it. They ask directly: What are the treatment options for this and that disease. This helps to answer certain questions - and very quickly. And time, as we know, is always a scarce commodity in medicine.
The CT scan is usually expected to answer the question: what are we dealing with? which is the disease? And if it is not one disease, ChatGPT can help to consider other differential diagnoses. But of course we have to take the whole thing with a grain of salt. It may be that the model "confabulates" - that's what we call it in the community. It "invents" things from time to time, it spins, so to speak. The text itself sounds logical, but sometimes the opposite of the truth is claimed. As a physician, you have to be careful and not rely on technology alone.
ChatGPT in daily work
ChatGPT helps me in communication - i.e. in the daily email exchange for official matters or in consultation with colleagues such as case discussions. The programme composes appropriate emails very quickly. That is, ChatGPT receives a few general conditions from me on the topic and the programme can then write the appropriate email. This helps, for example, with certain conflicts that have arisen in the work environment and with other difficult content, even with taboo topics.
For example, I can ask the programme to write a diplomatic reply. Even an ironic text is feasible. The nuances here are really varied and impressive. I can use ChatGPT to create a motivational critique, which can sometimes be very important in the daily routine of a clinic. I have had very good experiences with ChatGPT, especially with such sensitive topics.
I have experienced that the text offered was better than something I could have written myself. Even when it comes to tricky negotiations with superiors, salary, overtime, etc., I have asked ChatGPT for argumentation strategies. And I actually got some very interesting approaches. It's amazing what you can achieve with ChatGPT. Our own arguments become more focused, we can be more diplomatic, but also more assertive.
In many situations, I let ChatGPT formulate in order to see how I can optimise myself. Or I formulate it myself and then have ChatGPT check the text for politeness, stringency, professionalism or similar. It has become something of a communication coach. In this way, we can achieve goals through clear demands and ideas without getting into nerve-racking misunderstandings or unintended confrontations. A lot of frustration can simply be avoided in this way.
Saving time with ChatGPT
More relaxed, targeted communication also results in a lot of time saved. Apart from the fact that the programme formulates much faster than I do. So I can just give bullet points and ChatGPT writes a polished text from them. I have heard from colleagues that they have used it to write complete applications. A letter of motivation can be written from the mere CV. Some colleagues also use ChatGPT to create consultations on medical case problems.
For example, if a patient does not wake up after an operation, a neurologist comes in and tries to find out the cause. The colleague who has the consultation service usually runs from ward to ward all day and then writes his queries. That often takes hours. And ChatGPT can shorten that considerably by entering the essential points, from which a finished, well-structured consultation query is then created - and this is done immediately. Of course, you still have to check whether everything fits.
Research with ChatGPT
I am doing research on artificial intelligence in radiology. The algorithms I need for this sometimes used to cost me a lot of time until I could get an optimal result. Now I hand it over to ChatGPT and say: Please find the error! It works in a matter of seconds. It's just amazing! I can also have an algorithm explained to me that I don't understand right away. That's great for me, because as a medical doctor I only have a basic knowledge of computer science. ChatGPT is like a programming coach here, for example, when it tells me which steps I have to take next.
My conclusion: Apart from occasional errors in medical facts, where we have to be careful, the programme is a very positive tool. Overall, I can recommend colleagues to engage with the new technology and find its possible applications in everyday life.
